The Battle for Wesnoth Wiki - User contributions [en]

FAQ

2007-05-11T17:27:17Z

Spidah: typo

=Frequently Asked Questions=

== General ==

===What is Battle for Wesnoth?===
Battle for Wesnoth is a fantasy turn-based strategy game.

===What license is the game distributed under?===
The project is distributed under the [http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html GPL]. All contributors retain copyright on the portions of the project that they contribute.

===How to get informed about new releases?===
Subscribe to new releases at [http://freshmeat.net/subscribe/38720/?url=%2Fprojects%2Fwesnoth%2F Freshmeat].

===A new version is out, but where is the download for [Windows, Mac OS, etc.]?===
The downloads are NOT part of the official project. The BFW team only releases the game's source code. Binary executables or applications are always contributed by community volunteers. If not for these volunteers, there would never be any downloads for us to enjoy. The volunteers compile the game and upload it on their own time, and sometimes they cannot do this in a timely fashion (or at all, at times) Although there are usual packagers designated for each operating system, there are times when other members of the community are asked to step in and contribute when the usual people cannot.

Every time a new version is released, the usual volunteers are always notified by the project leaders. '''Please refrain from making forum posts asking where your download is''' because it doesn't help anything - the packagers already know, and they will get to it as soon as they can. In the past, the Windows and Mac communities have come together to produce home-grown unofficial builds for the community to use, and the renewed interest in community and learning how to compile is generally a good thing.

===Why doesn't Wesnoth have my favorite feature?===
Because we are building this game for ourselves, to suit our own preferences. We're not building the game for you, in large part because this is our hobby, not our job; whether you like it or not is immaterial to us.
You may wonder, then, what the point is of soliciting ideas, as we do on the forum. We, the developers, have certainly come up with many good ideas on our own, but our players often do as well, and generally ones we don't think of ourselves. If a player comes up with an idea we like, we might implement it. Not because they asked for it, but because of its own merits as an addition to our game.

The beautiful thing about the license our game is distributed under, as compared to closed-source, commercial games, is that if you want that feature badly enough, you can take the code and art of our game and modify it yourself; you are free to re-use any work in Wesnoth, as long as you follow the rules of the [http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html GPL]. From this, you can build a game exactly the way that you like. Just don't expect us to build that game for you. Building this game is our hobby, not our profession, and you did not pay us to make it; rather, we are the ones who have paid for it, in time and labor.

===Do you want help making this game? How can I help?===
Yes, we want your help. Whether you're a programmer, artist, musician, writer, translator, level designer, playtester, or just have some great suggestions, you're welcome to contribute. How? You can:
* join the [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Project Project]
* share your point of view at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/ Forum]
* talk with us on [irc://irc.wesnoth.org/wesnoth IRC]
* report bugs you find at [[ReportingBugs]]
* update the wiki
* play against us via the Multiplayer menu
* vote for Wesnoth at your favorite gaming web site
* Spread the word!

=== What are the system requirements? ===

We are not completely certain, but an x86 running at 400 MHz with 128MB RAM should be adequate for versions 1.02 and below. For versions 1.1 and up we recommend a computer with at least 1 GHz and 512 MB RAM if you run KDE or Gnome as Windowmanager (The game itself needs about 100 MB RAM). Slower machines will have trouble scrolling large maps or processing AI turns with many units. See the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7384 forum thread] about minimum and recommended system requirements.

=== I'm bored; how do I speed the game up? ===

There are several preferences you can change to shorten the time that the AI takes to make its moves. "Accelerated Speed" will make units move and fight faster. "Skip AI Moves" will not show the AI's units moving from hex to hex. Finally, you can turn off all combat animations via the "Show Combat" option on the Advanced tab.

=== My computer is too slow; how do I speed the game up? ===

First, turn off the music and sound effects. Turning off the color cursors will make your cursor respond faster. If scrolling the map is slow, run the game in "Full Screen" mode, not in a window. Turn off combat animations via the "Show Combat" option on the Advanced tab. You can try turning off halos and combat results, but this might make gameplay more difficult.

== Gameplay and Controls ==

=== How do I learn to play? ===

If you just want to jump right in, start the game and play the tutorial. If you like reading documentation, see [[WesnothManual]], which is also distributed as a PDF file. At any time while playing, you can select help from the menu button (or hit F1). The online help is quite extensive and provides information on terrains, weapons, traits, abilities, units and a good overview of how to play.

=== My unit leveled up but didn't improve. What happened? ===

This is called "After Maximum Level Advancement" or AMLA for short. While most level 0, 1, and 2 units can advance, some cannot. However, some level 3 units can advance to level 4, or even 5. You can see whether a unit can advance further by right clicking and selecting "description."

After a unit reaches the highest level it can get, every time it gains 100 experience it gains 3 hitpoints. It does not heal when this happens. This is a minor bonus so that experience gained by maxed out units is not altogether wasted. It is generally better to give experience to lower level units, rather than continue to advanced units that have reached their maximum level.

If the unit in question is the Necrophage, this is not a bug. The Necrophage eats the corpses of the dead, allowing it to periodically completely heal. Leveling into itself is how this is carried out.

=== I tried to trap an enemy with several weak units, but it still escaped. What happened? ===

Most units exert a zone of control (or ZOC). IF an enemy moves into one of the six adjacent hexes, the zone of control will prevent it from moving any farther. However some weak units are level 0, meaning they are so weak that they do not have a ZOC. You can still surround an enemy unit entirely with level 0 units to keep it from escaping, but if there is any gap in your ranks, it could escape.

Also, some units have the "skirmish" ability, which allows them to ignore ZOCs.

=== How can I see where an enemy unit can move next turn? ===

During your turn you can click on an enemy unit. Wesnoth will highlight all the hexes the unit can move to in the next turn. This is useful when trying to arrange your units to block an enemy's movement.

=== There's too much luck in this game! ===

Sooner or later, you will become frustrated when your archmage with four 70% attacks misses all four times. This does not mean that the AI is cheating or the random number generator is futzed. It means you are noticing random negative events more than positive ones. During the development of the game, many mathematicians have done sophisticated statistical analysis of the combat system. Likewise, programmers have examined the random number generator. No flaws have been found, so streaks of "bad" and "good" luck should just be accepted as part of having randomness in Wesnoth.

Since Wesnoth is GPLed, it is possible that a new development team will someday "fork" the source and produce a version more like Heroes of Might & Magic, with less or no randomness. Until then, don't charge with your horsemen against troll rocklobbers at night...

=== The (random unit) is overpowered/underpowered! ===

The development team has spent years tweaking the units in the game. Each unit has had its gold cost, attack types, combat damage, defensive values, resistances, upgrade paths, and other stats carefully scrutinized and loudly discussed in the forum. However, the game code and the units were being modified right up until the 1.0 release, so some unbalanced units may have slipped through.

If you have evidence to back up your claim, search the forum for past discussions about this unit, and then try posting.

=== The (random scenario) is too hard/easy! ===

See above answer about random units.

=== What do the different difficulty levels do? ===

That depends on the scenario. Usually, the opponent will get more money and be able to recruit higher-level units at higher difficulty levels, and you will have fewer turns available.

== Maps, Scenarios and Campaigns ==

=== How do I beat scenario _______ ? ===

If you are stuck on a scenario in a campaign, you'll probably find a walkthrough at [[MainlineScenarios]]. Or check out the "Strategies and Tips" forum at http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=3

=== Are there any tools to help me create maps and scenarios? ===
Yes, there is a tool called wesnoth_editor. It is a normal map-editor that should be a good help for creating the plain maps. For creating the scenarios there already is a scenario-editor included in the mac build. But this editor is rather outdated and it exists only for MacOS X. At the moment some community members are working on creating a nice and working scenario editor. You can have a look at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6925 forum post] about this tool. You will also find more info at [[CampGen]].

=== How do I download user campaigns? ===
Choose "Campaigns" in the main Wesnoth menu. Then scroll down to the bottom and choose "Get More Campaigns..." or since 1.1.5 there is a "Get add-ons" button in the main menu. This connects you to the campaign server. In the campaign server you can view a list of all available campaigns and download them, as well as posting or deleting your own campaigns.

If you are behind a firewall you may not be able to connect to the campaign server. In this case try to download the campaign directly from the campaign server through the web interface at http://wolff.to/campaigns/list.html. If you know how to change your firewall settings, then you should open port 15003 (version 1.1.1 and up) or port 15002 (versions 1.1.0 and lower). For added security, you can restrict traffic over those ports to the campaign server's IP address (currently 88.191.12.200).

=== I already created a campaign and published it on the campaign server. How can I get translations for the campaign? ===
Just have a look at [[WesCamp]]. This project is the easiest way to get translations for your campaign. All the info you need you can find at [[WesCamp]].

===How do I place an object or unit on my map with the map editor?===
You can't. You need to make a multiplayer scenario file. There are more details on the [[BuildingMaps|maps]] page.

== Multiplayer ==

===How do i connect to a multiplayer server, when i sit behind a restrictive Firewall?===

You have to open for TCP on port 14999 to play multiplayer games over the internet. For added security, you can restrict access to the server's IP address (currently 84.207.24.9 for the official server).

===How to find players for multiplayer game?===
Hang around for a while on multiplayer servers and you might find someone to play with. If you observe other people playing you will get informed when someone joins the servers. Maybe you find someone willing to play in the irc channel dedicated to mp: #wesnoth-mp at irc.freenode.net.
You can also join #wesnoth at irc.freenode.net.

===How to save and load a multiplayer game===

Save the game. Give it a good name, so that you can find it among the other saved games.

Create new game. (Give it a name like "private game for X and Y", so that other players will not try joining it, and you do not have to explain or kick them.) The first item in the map/scenario list is "Saved games", select this. Choose the saved game. Wait for the other player(s) to connect. Start the game.

===How can I make my computer into a dedicated Wesnoth server?===

To setup a dedicated Wesnoth server, you have to compile the game with the "--enable-server" flag, and after you install, simply run wesnothd from the console. This will start the server, listening on TCP port 15000. To compile the server only you can use the flags "--disable-game --enable-server". If you aren't using a linux or mac operating system, there are a few ways you can compile on Windows...here is one way http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/CompilingWesnoth/CrossCompiling

===Which versions of Wesnoth can play together?===

I'm on a MAC, and my friends are on XP. I would like to play together with them. Is this currently possible?

YES! All you need is to have the same version number.

For a list of Mac-XP-compatible games (including BfW) see: http://www.insidemacgames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21818

== Translations ==

===I selected an asian translation and am not able to see the letters correctly. What happened?===

Since the size of the necessary fonts is too large, you'll need to download them separately (if you don't already have them). After that, simply copy the font to the '''fonts/''' directory in your wesnoth installation.
* Chinese font: [http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/t/ttf-arphic-gkai00mp/ttf-arphic-gkai00mp_2.11.orig.tar.gz gkai00mp_2.11.orig.tar.gz (2.6 MB)]

Untar it into your home directory, and move this file ''gkai00mp.ttf'' into the '''wesnoth/fonts''' folder.

* Japanese font: [http://cvs.sourceforge.jp/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/sqs-xml/sqs-font/sazanami-gothic.ttf sazanami-gothic.ttf (7.3 MB)]

If you have further questions have a look at [[WesnothAsianLanguages|this]] page.

== Other Questions You Have ==

The best way to get answers to less-frequently asked questions is by visiting the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum BFW forum]. There are plenty of people willing to help. Make sure you read ALL of the forum sticky notes and announcements before posting.

AdvancedTactics

2007-05-11T17:12:30Z

Spidah: /* Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself */

{|align="right"
|-
|__TOC__
|}
This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===
==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

Napoleon was especially skilled at maneuvering his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the center, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favorable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in leveling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favorable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker then you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

Note that all units have a maximum level after which they no longer regenerate when hitting their experience limit. Know which units are at their maximum level so you do not get one killed when expecting a HP regeneration that does not happen.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches arount them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 12 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Many enemy units such as Trolls (not to mention Troll Warriors!), Orcish Grunts,
and Horsemen have two powerful attacks.
You can cripple them for a round by Slowing them, effectively halving their attacks.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, and Goblin Pillagers.

You can also keep a unit that slow the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or any unit in a village next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if legal units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned legal units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not effect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and posssibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that you will be helpless when attacking, and will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in it's least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemie's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during theis part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to contain them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you now exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to eep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[PlayingUndead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

AdvancedTactics

2007-05-11T17:11:19Z

Spidah: /* Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy */

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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===
==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

Napoleon was especially skilled at maneuvering his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the center, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favorable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in leveling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favorable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker then you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

Note that all units have a maximum level after which they no longer regenerate when hitting their experience limit. Know which units are at their maximum level so you do not get one killed when expecting a HP regeneration that does not happen.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches arount them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 12 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Many enemy units such as Trolls (not to mention Troll Warriors!), Orcish Grunts,
and Horsemen have two powerful attacks.
You can cripple them for a round by Slowing them, effectively halving their attacks.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, and Goblin Pillagers.

You can also keep a unit that slow the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or any unit in a village next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if legal units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned legal units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not effect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and posssibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that you will be helpless when attacking, and will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in it's least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemie's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during theis part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to contain them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you now exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to now what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to eep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[PlayingUndead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>